NO more in believing, enduring affection, The age of strong creeds and unshaken confessions Lives, with its power of daily conferring Strength to the heart that, often desponding, Cries for a wisdom abiding and perfect, To illumine the vision with splendor of hope. Names that charmed and sweetly controlled us Are silent, and silent shall ever remain, Though we strive to rekindle with prayer and devotion The flame they once fed in the heart's deep retreat. But nobler and wiser, when once we discern them, Lead onward forever brave Duty and Action, With strength to encounter, and vanquish undaunted The spectres of conscience that distract and bewilder, And lay them o'erthrown in the dust at our feet. Not the creed, but the deed is the hope of the future: The rule of the priest shall vanish away, But the life that is lived with earnest endeavor, Stout heart to endure, brave hands to achieve, Shall build us anew the temple of worship, And the Christ shall return with His message of peace. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOCTURNE IN A MINOR KEY by CONRAD AIKEN RETURN (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO RIDGELY TORRENCE - PLAYWRIGHT by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON O SOUTHLAND! by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE COTTON CLUB by CLARENCE MAJOR WAITER IN A CALIFORNIA VIETNAMESE RESTURANT by CLARENCE MAJOR |